Just 10 days before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa kicks off and the World Cup fever is definitely rising. All national teams are in the final stage of preparations and there were quite a few last minute friendly matches this last weekend. The deadline to submit the final team rosters is expiring today, and the 32 coaches are putting a lot of weight and looking closely at each player’s performance in these friendlies.
Nigeria Vs Colombia 1-1
The Super Eagles of Nigeria forced a draw in their last world cup friendly against Colombia. Valdes opened the score for Colombia in the 22nd minute of the game, and Lukman tied the MK Dons Stadium game for Nigeria in the 70th minute. Watch all goals and highlights of the game in the video below:
Gambia Vs Mexico 1-5
With Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista on a great day, Mexico easily beat Gambia in a friendly match played in Germany. Hernandez scored twice for Mexico and the team shows signs of recovery after two successive friendly defeats earlier this month. Watch the video highlights and all 6 goals of the international friendly match between Gambia and Mexico below:
Paraguay Vs Ivory Coast 2-2
Paraguay played against the Ivory Coast in France, and managed to turn around a 2-0 game scoring two goals after the 75th minute of the world cup friendly match. Didier Drogba scored the first goal of the game, and it seems the player has recovered from his injury, but his performance was not enough to give Ivory Coast the win.
South Korea Vs Belarus 0-1
Another disappointing afternoon for South Korea that lost to Belarus by 1-0 during an international world cup friendly match in Austria. Sergey Kisliak scored the only goal of the game for Belarus that had quite a few more chances to double later on. Watch the video highlights of the friendly match between South Korea and Belarus below.
Japan Vs England 1-2
England defeated Japan in a world cup friendly by 2-1 without even scoring a single goal! Tulio had opened the score for Japan in the 7th minute of the friendly game, but two own goals from Tanaka and Nakazawa gave the victory to England despite their terrible performance. Fabio Capello and his players are still not convincing anyone that they deserve the title of one of the favourite teams during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
United States Vs Turkey 2-1
England’s opening match opponents the United States are definitely doing much better, and easily beat Turkey by 2-1 in their last World Cup 2010 friendly match. The game was played in the Financial Field stadium of Philadelphia, and Turkey scored the first goal in the 27th minute but the United States picked up the pace later on and came back to win the match. Altidore and Dempsey were the two goal scorers of the United States, you can watch the video highlights below.
